LDF govt agrees to discuss Thrissur Pooram disruption issue in Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF government on Wednesday agreed to debate in the House an adjournment notice moved by the UDF opposition to discuss the need for a judicial probe into the disruption of the iconic Thrissur Pooram festival in April this year.

State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M B Rajesh, speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said that the adjournment notice' contents were similar to the notices moved on the last two days of the House.

He contended that the opposition's intention behind moving the notice was to create a "political smokescreen" and raise in the Assembly the "wrong propaganda being spread through the media outside the House".

"We will discuss the issue raised in the notice to reveal the opposition's true intentions," he said.

In view of the government being agreeable to discuss the matter, Speaker A N Shamseer said the issue would be taken up at noon.

The adjournment notice was moved by UDF MLAs, including Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Anoop Jacob and K K Rema.

There were police interventions in the Thrissur Pooram rituals and the subsequent controversies had taken the sheen off the annual spectacle held in April this year.

For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the early hours, was held in broad daylight the next day, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.